


And So It Begins

by blank_Ace



Category: Monster Hunter (Video Games), モンスターハンター ストーリーズ RIDE ON | Monster Hunter Stories: Ride On (Anime)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Eventual Romance, Hamish is a nerd, I don't know what I'm doing half of the time, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Please have mercy, Slow Burn, selectively mute Lloyd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 00:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16964247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blank_Ace/pseuds/blank_Ace
Summary: Hamish didn't know what he was still doing here. He was planning on leaving Hakum village months ago, yet here he was, collecting herbs for Martha's' shop again because he just can't say no to the lady.His uneventful day takes a turn, however, when he hears of a giant dragon that has been after the Aptonoths and Velocidromes of the village.With his partner Lotus the Rathian in tow, he sets out on his first real adventure.





	And So It Begins

Hamish took a deep breath. He loved being a Rider, he really did, but these last few jobs that he had taken on against his better judgment had become more of a chore than the adventure he sought. Sure, he'd do them again if they asked him to, not only because it were mostly people from Hakum, the little speck of earth that called itself a town, which he grew up in, that couldn't really go out and get the ingredients and items they needed because they didn't know how to fight off monsters themselves.  
  
As a Rider, he'd taken on the responsibility to fight in order to protect the weak, even if it meant that he'd have to go out and search for some herbs in the Pondry Hills that aunt Martha required again, even though no one bought them in her quaint little item shop anymore.  
  
When Hamish first became a Rider aunt Marthas herbs were a blessing, but now that he was more experienced he got them himself and relied more on potions. Those were more effective anyway. Coming to think of it, there were no new Riders in training in Hakum anymore. He was the last one to graduate of his generation (which he did with flying colors but it's not like he'd brag about that, why would you even think that haha??) and it's not like a whole lot of people were visiting the town. Just how did she keep her business afloat like that?  
  
Then again, here he was searching for her items even though he knew she couldn't pay him much. Not in money anyway. She had promised him she'd make him that cake he liked so much when he was younger, the one with the scatternuts in them. He loved those. You'd never expect them to taste as well as they did or even that you could bake them into a cake, for they normally shatter (sometime even explode) into little pieces when subjected to an impact, you see. It could happen that when you bit down on some of them, they'd pop in your mouth. Kids loved to eat them as little snacks but Hamish adored them in aunt Marthas cake. The sweetness coupled with the surprise of the scatternuts was a match made in heaven.  
Needless to say, it didn't take long for Martha to bribe him to work for her. He sighed. The things he did for good food.  


He got off of Lotus, a beautiful and young Rathian that had been his companion since day one, to pick up some more herbs, staring at the offending object on the ground for a while before grumpily shoving them into his pocket. Lotus yawned.  
  
"Exactly!", he exclaimed incredulous throwing his arms up in defeat, "We could be out there exploring new places or finding new monsters! I swear, after this quest we're so out of here!" Lotus blinked lazily at him, sitting down and watching her Rider throw a fit, seemingly content with just observing him.  
  
"Oh, don't you give me that look. You know I could never say no to Martha! I just had to help her out, ya know? AND I get some cake!" Lotus tilted her head to the side. "Next time someone asks me for help, I'll decline okay! Geez, you don't have to guilt trip me!", he yelled (it was more of a shriek, really), turned around and walked a few steps. Lotus blinked. Her rider tuned towards her again in a huff. He took a deep breath.  
  
"We've got all the herbs now", his face became stern. "We should head back." Another breath, then a nod. "We can do it this time. Get in, drop off the items, get out. As fast as possible." Lotus, picking up on Hamish's serious demeanor straightened her posture. "We can do it. This time for sure." The green dragon got up, determination filling her eyes. They'd finally leave the village.  
  
They were ready.

-

They weren't ready.  
  
 Everything was going according to plan for the most part. They rode into the village not making eye contact with anyone, rushing to meet Martha in her shop. She had thanked him for the items and told him that he could have his cake next time he came visit to her as long as he told her a day or so beforehand.  
  
He had turned around, Lotus right behind him, almost sprinting towards the exit gate when he glanced to his left for a split second. A fatal mistake. His eyes met those of Mark, the blacksmith of the town who took notice of him and his scaled friend and waved at them. "Hamish! Hey, come over here for a second, will you?"  
  
The Rider stopped dead in his tracks. That was it, he was done for. Another villager required his assistance and he was sure, he couldn't say no to Mark either. How could he, Mark was a great fellow, a friend of his father. He'd practically known him his whole life. Thoughts of ignoring him flew around in his mind. He could just pretend, he hadn't heard him. But he had already stopped walking, hadn't he?  
  
"Hamish, come on. I know you can hear me!", Mark sing-songed. Hamish sighed in defeat for the second time today, not that anyone was counting or anything. Lotus gave him a judging look. "Oh shut up", he mumbled, feeling the gaze of his friend on him as he made his way over to the blacksmith.  
  
"Heeeey Mark! How's it going?" "Oh I'm good! I need to ask you something!" Here it comes. "I actually need your help, you know. The help of a good Rider." -wait for it- "If you don't have time to help out it'd be fine, really" -almost there- "but I'm really worried and so are some of the other villagers. It'd be great if you could." -another boring job- "There is the rumor of a large dragon making its home in the Pondry Caves." -AND THERE IT- ... wait what? "Molly told me that it already ate some of our Aptonoths and even some of the Velocidromes-"  
  
"Wait, wait, wait you want me to hunt down a monster?" Hamish asked, excited. "Well, yes. Sort of?" "I'll do it!" "But we don't even know if this monster even exists-" " I'll find it if it does!" "If you don't mind. You know Molly. She's old. I wouldn't put it past her to-" "Don't worry about it!", Hamish grinned, "I got this!"  
  
Mark seemed relieved "I'm glad you do! I couldn't really pay you much but I could upgrade your weapon for free one time?" Hamish nodded, beaming up at Mark. "You better go ask Molly about it then", the older continued, "if someone knows about the dragon, it's her, although some of the children have claimed to see something similar to what Molly was describing, but that could just be them messing around again." "All right, I'll do just that then. Thank you so much!"  
  
  
He waved Mark goodbye and went on his way, almost beginning to skip. Lotus gave him an unimpressed look. "Aww c'mon, don't be like that! This is actually a really intriguing quest, don't you think? I mean, we're talking about a real dragon here!" Lotus made a sound close to a scoff. "Yeah okay, I know. But consider this, it might be a strong one! How long has it been since we had a good fight, huh?", he challenged. She growled lowly in response. "That's what I thought! Now, Mark said it already ate some Aptonoths if Molly didn't miscount her flock. Going off of that, I'd guess it's a Rathian just like you. They like to feast on them. It'd make sense." The green dragon chirped. "The part of the Velocidromes isn't all that surprising either. A dragon of that size should have no problem to eat some of the little ones. But", he frowned, "if we go by all the monsters we've seen so far, those aren't native to the Pondry Hills."  
  
He mulled it over in his head. "Though, that time we explored the Whistill Forest last week we found one of them. That's not too far from the hills. Maybe one of them found a cave to call their own?", he looked at Lotus as if she held all the answers. She gave a short, meaningful huff of air. "Guess we'll have to find out on our own, huh?"

-

Molly invited him in, offering Lotus some food and Hamish some tea with all the charm a 90 year old woman could possess. If Mark hadn't told him, he'd never have guessed that something might be plaguing the old lady. She smiled warmly at him "What brings you into my home on a fine day like this, dear? My, it surely has been some time since I last saw you! You should come visit me more often, I'm sure you have plenty of stories to tell. I don't really have many visitors anymore, you know. Stephaney still comes around and my dear son Christopher helps me with the farm. Oh what would I do without those two? What a pleasant surprise of you to drop by! Is the tea any good?"  
  
Sensing her pause in her monologue, he jumped in before she could take a breather "Molly, I'm here because Mark-" "Ah yes, Mark!" This lady knew how to play this game. Darn. "The good soul brought me some Kelbi milk yesterday, you know? What a handsome man he has become. Quite strong, I'm sure. His son looks just like him. He's grown so much lately. I'm sure you have seen him around. William is always out and about, just like you were when you were his age!"  
  
"Yeah sure, but Mark said that you-" "Have I told you that he brought me milk? He did. I've made some biscuits with it. They turned out quite well. I should get some for you. You look far too thin. Are you eating enough, dear?", she was getting up, still babbling about how she'd make him eat a whole Popo if need be, leaving Hamish sitting in the living room, dumb struck. He needed to change tactics, but how could you fight against a unfiltered stream of consciousness? This was getting harder than expected but who would he be if he backed down from a verbal fight with the village granny.  
  
Molly came back with a tray of biscuits that were neatly stacked into huge pillars of sweet deliciousness. Hamish tried his best not to knock over the jenga tower of baked goods when he got himself some. "Now eat up. You look so frail, you should make sure to always eat three meals a day, you know? You young people always take care of so much and forget yourself in the process. Oh but dear, you can come to good old Molly should you be in need of a hot meal sometime." There! The tiniest pause! Molly was human after all and needed to breath! "MARK TOLD ME YOU SAW A DRAGON EATING SOME OF YOUR MONSTERS AND I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT", he rambled with a speed that would put a Lagombi to shame. He considered becoming a rapper for a split second, dismissing the thought soon after. The world wasn't ready for his talent yet.  
  
"Oh, so he told you about that! How thoughtful of him!", apparently unimpressed by Hamish’s display of perfect double-time rap she went on, "I saw it right over the mountain, you see. I couldn't make out its color but it was surely a dragon. Five of my Aptonoth disappeared only two days ago!"  
  
 "Over the mountain, you say?" He was getting the hang of waiting for her pauses for breath. "Yes, yes! Over Mt. Pondry! Can you believe it already killed five of my Aptonoth? My son already send out a quest to the hunter guild in Gildegaran but no hunter has shown up yet! I already got it hard with my back and all, the darn thing has been acting up again and..."  
  
Hamish tuned her out, deep in thought again. So it was sighted over the mountain. Maybe it's nest was somewhere near that? But the mountain wasn't small. That would still be a lot of ground to cover. He needed more info than that after all. Maybe if he waited a bit for the dragon to make an appearance again it would be easier to track down?  
  
Something Molly said pulled him out of his musings. "Sorry, could you repeat that?" "Oh I just meant that there was another Rider. Can you believe it? Another Rider that is not from Hakum Village? And here I thought we were the only town that offered people to become a Rider! He had a dragon just like you but in a prettier color! I never liked green, it doesn't go well together with my complexion. I'm too pale to wear anything in green, you see?"  
  
"First off, I think a lighter green would look good on you; second, what did the other Rider want in a place like this?" This day was truly developing into something quite interesting. Another Rider from _another town_ in _HIS_ village? He had to know about this one! Though he had met someone before who had claimed to be a Rider that turned out to be a fake he had high hopes. There couldn't be more idiots around that would buy knock-off bond stones, right? Anyway-  
  
Molly laughed "Why, how sweet of you to say that! I should try it at some point! And the other Rider, well, he came by my house yesterday and asked about the dragon just like you. He probably heard about my problem from someone in the village. You know how it is. If I tell Stephaney anything, everyone will know what I said a day later. I'm sure she told Francine and she-" "I'm sure she did, but did the Rider say anything about what he'd do?" Wow, he had dared to interrupt Molly. He's definitely going to hell now.  
  
"Ah yes, he was quite the charming young lad! Said he wanted to help out if he could, so I told him what I told you. He politely thanked me for the tea and left in search of it. I haven't seen him since, I hope he's okay! But you know how young people are. They can never sit still."  
  
Hamish was a bit baffled. "He went out to search for it with that little information?" "Apparently so! Mt. Pondry is quite big, isn't it? And now there are dangerous dragons living on it! It hasn't always been this difficult, you know? Back when I was your age, all we had to fear where Arzuros and Yian Kut-Kus. Those would be nasty in their own ways though. That one time, my grandfather..."  
  
An overwhelming feeling of excitement settled in Hamish's stomach. Not only was he to find a great dragon to slay but there was another Rider out there somewhere with his own stories to tell. He'd probably be somewhere around the mountain still, searching for the beast. He hadn't wandered too far away from the Pondry Hills himself yet, having acquired his bond stone only a month ago but he'd meant to leave for the Darj Snowfields for a few days now. He could ask this other Rider for advice! This could be it! This was his chance and he was not passing it up!  
  
He stood abruptly, too excited to stay put. "Thank you so much for the tea and biscuits, Molly! I'll handle your dragon problem!" Molly laughed in delight "My, my, thank you so much, dear! The young folk's always out and about, isn't it. Always moving ahead and in motion." She got up to see him off, "Come by again soon, okay? I'd love to hear about your adventures. And be careful, you hear! If this dragon is to dangerous, you come back, all right?" "I will Molly, thank you!"  
  
Outside Lotus was waiting for him, rising to her feet when she saw her Rider coming outside. A grin spread across his face. "You wouldn't believe what Molly just told me."

**Author's Note:**

> That concludes chapter number one! I'm not sure how far I want to take this story and it might be some time until chapter two comes out but I already have some ideas I want to write for it so stay tuned!
> 
> I'll probably make shit up as I go along, just so you know. If you have complaints, feel free to throw them at me in the comments.


End file.
